UMass Lowell experiments with dropping SAT, ACT

LOWELL -- UMass Lowell has dropped the standardized-test score requirement for qualified applicants in the fall of 2016, joining a growing number of colleges that are making SAT and ACT scores optional in the college-application process.

In lieu of scores, the new "no-test option" gives applicants three 200-word essay questions on their leadership, ability to overcome challenges, and expected contribution to the university.

The pilot program comes after school officials studied groups of UMass Lowell students and found that high-school grade-point average is a stronger predictor of college graduation rates than SAT scores.

"We looked at GPAs starting at 3.25 to 3.5 for high school, just looking at six-year graduation rates based on their high-school GPA," said Kerri Johnston, UMass Lowell's associate dean of enrollment and director of undergraduate admissions. "What we're finding is, once you get in that 3.25 to 3.5 range, regardless of their SAT scores, they're all graduating at the same rates."

The university also noticed that it was not admitting students who performed well in the classroom but not well on standardized tests, Johnston said.

"We were turning away some great students whose standardized-test scores would not necessarily reflect their ability to be successful in a college-university setting," she said.

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The option comes as UMass Lowell's average SAT score increased for its newest class to a score of 1,172, not including the writing section.

"We felt that a lot of students had received the message that we had become very selective, and students may not have applied to us based solely on perhaps their poor SAT scores," Johnston said.

Students using the no-test option should have a GPA of at least 3.25. International students, home-schooled students and those applying for merit scholarships will still need to submit test scores. Students who scored at least a 1050 on the SAT and 23 on the ACT are encouraged to still submit their scores.

UMass Lowell is part of a movement that's growing at the fastest rate ever, according to Bob Schaeffer, public-education director for FairTest. The national group advocates for a fairer standardized testing system that provides equal opportunity.

"It's a win-win for schools and for the students they want to attract," Schaeffer said of the policy. "Colleges get more applicants academically and more diverse applicants ..."

Schaeffer argued that the best predictor of college success is how well a student does in high school.

"High-school grades are accurate because they capture both academic cognitive factors, like the ability to do school work, and the other things like self-discipline, creativity," he said.

But the College Board argues that SAT scores and high-school GPA, in combination, are the best predictors of college success.

"Evidence also shows that test-optional policies do not increase socio-economic and racial diversity on college campuses," a College Board statement reads. "The College Board agrees with the approach used by the vast majority of colleges and universities in this country: in making admissions decisions, it is better to have more, not less, information."

The SAT began as an equalizer, said Philip Tate, an assistant professor in Boston University's School of Education. But over the years, school officials realized it wasn't always useful.

"It's very clear that the SAT, as it was when I took it, was really more of an intelligence test, and it also tested knowledge that was more accessible for wealthy and upper-class people," Tate said.

The test did a good job of finding people who were similar to those students already in a college, he said.

"It did a terrible job at telling us which kids who didn't follow the normal path of going to the best private schools and so forth -- how they were doing, how anyone else would do in college," he said.

Tate, a former admissions officer for the University of Chicago, said admissions officials began to look at other factors, the most important of which is high-school GPA. Others include class rank and recommendations.

Yet with a no-test policy, UMass Lowell may have to use more resources to determine whether a student is ready for the college, Tate argued.

He noted that BU is also phasing out its use of GRE exam scores in admissions for graduate school at the School of Education.

"When we have someone on the borderline without their SAT and the GRE, then we have to get more information," he said. "We have to call the high school or call the college, actually talk to their recommenders to see what's really going on with their student."

The no-test policy could provide relief for future UMass Lowell applicants who see the test as a high-pressure burden.

UMass Lowell sophomore Taylor Morash said she would have chosen the no-test option. In contrast to the SAT, those three essay questions look better to her.

"I don't think SAT scores are a good representation of who you are as a student," Morash said.

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